“Darling” by Halsey

Halsey’s “Darling” is a pretty deep song whose intricacies are not difficult to understand, though may still fly over some listeners’ heads due to its seriousness. As for the thesis sentiment, such is stated outright in the chorus in which the vocalist celebrates the addressee for ‘showing her how to love being alive’.

But concerning what was put forth earlier, this is a statement that the vocalist means quite literally. In other words, the lyrics leading up to that point indicate, even if metaphorically, that she is contemplating suicide.

Or let’s say that Halsey comes off as one of those types of people who imagine eternal sleep being better than the here and now. So once again, what the vocalist is actually saying to the addressee is that her association with this individual is more or less what’s preventing her from taking her own life.

So even though we have yet to use the word depression in our analysis of the songs derived from “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power”, it is obvious that such a disposition is one of the recurring themes throughout the album.

Meanwhile, according to Halsey’s own explanation of the project, it “is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth”. So taking all of that into consideration, it wouldn’t be out of the way to suggest that maybe the addressee is Halsey’s newborn.

Or in the very least, it is someone she loves to the point of literally making life worth living to the vocalist. So conclusively this is in fact a love song, albeit one that is heavily-premised in a mood of melancholy.

Credits for “Darling”

The aforementioned album is one in which the Nine Inch Nails, i.e. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, were deeply involved in. They served as producers and co-writers of virtually all of the songs therein, including this one (“Darling”). Likewise Halsey and John Cunningham, who co-wrote “Darling”, are present throughout.

Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac fame also contributed to this song, in that he plays the guitar.

The “If I Can’t Have Love, I want Power” Album

“If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power”, which came out on 27 August 2021, is Halsey’s fourth studio album with the third, Manic, having just come out about a year and-a-half prior.

In fact Halsey not only released a studio album in 2020 but also a live version of her debut LP Badlands (which originally came out in 2015) as well as five different compilation EPs including Collabs, which features her teaming up with the likes of Juice WRLD, Dominic Fike and Suga from BTS.

This album, as well as all of the aforementioned projects (with the exception of the original Badlands), is a product of Capitol Records.

In all, 13 songs were released from the album’s standard edition. In addition to “Darling”, the songs include the likes of the following:

• “Ya’aburnee”
• “The Lighthouse”
• “I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God”
• “Whispers”
• “Honey”
• “1121”
• “You Asked for This”
• “Girl is a Gun”
• “Lilith”
• “Easier than Lying”
• “Bells in Santa Fe”
• “The Tradition”